Orphaned Malaysian Elephants Beat the Odds

Baby Joe was never guaranteed to survive the death of his mother and removal from the wild.

The pygmy elephant was rescued just more than a year ago after wildlife authorities found his mom and 13 other endangered pygmies poisoned to death in the Gunung Rara Forest Reserve in Sabah state, on Malaysia’s eastern tip.

Weighing hardly 90 kilograms, the two-month-old calf garnered international sympathy after pictures circulated of him trying to awaken his mother with his trunk. He was taken to the Lok Kawi Wildlife Park in Kota Kinabalu, a 10-hour drive from where his mother died.

A year later, Baby Joe is now a healthy, rambunctious 325-kilogram toddler often described as “very naughty.”

“He head butts everybody, whether it is his own keepers or other units’ keepers – and even me,” said Dr. Symphorosa Sipangkui, a veterinarian at Lok Kawi, home to 16 other orphaned or injured elephants.

Two baby elephants recently found abandoned in Sabah have come as a reminder of last year’s tragedy and raised questions about what might have happened to their mothers. They are also putting a focus back on Baby Joe, who has overcome the hard knocks of orphan life and given others hope.

Sabah is home to two-thirds of the world’s 1,500 remaining pygmy elephants. Known for their floppy, Dumbo-like ears, the elephants have come into increasing conflict with humans in recent years as plantations and urban development have cut into the forests they call home.

The endangered elephants, which are protected under state law, have been known to crush crops and stampede through villages, raising tensions.

Sabah Wildlife Department

Bikang the baby with a deformed trunk, using his trunk the way normal elephant does.

Bikang, one of the elephants at Lok Kawi park that Baby Joe has befriended, is a victim of that interaction.

His trunk was caught in a snare and part of it rotted off. When Bikang was found last year, he was around three years old and his mother was still nursing him.

Male elephants normally stay with their mothers until they are at least eight years old, but rescue officials from Sabah’s wildlife department decided to remove Bikang from his mom because they were uncertain what would happen once he was weaned.

“We knew he would not survive alone in the forest as he would not be able to feed properly,” Dr. Sen Nathan, the wildlife officer in charge of Lok Kawi and a deputy director at the Sabah Wildlife Department told the Wall Street Journal last July in an interview about how Bikang and Baby Joe were adjusting.

A year later, the 450-kilogram Bikang has no trouble eating.

“Bikang is using his trunk the way a normal elephant does. If you don’t look at it, you won’t know he is handicapped,” said Dr. Sipangkui.

Sabah WIldlife Department

Jimbo gets words of encouragement from a keeper at the Sepilok Wildlife Medical Center while Tun Tan plays with a banana leaf. They await news of their mothers, from whom they’ve been separated since at least Feb. 5.

Both Bikang, who is now four, and Baby Joe feed on milk, cereals, carrots, banana shoots and turnips. Each morning they are taken to an exercise yard to play.

“Baby Joe drinks 35 liters of milk per day and eats an average of 20 kg of solid food,” said Dr. Sen.

If Bikang proves he can use his trunk fully, Dr. Sipangkui says the wildlife park may release him in the next year or two. Baby Joe’s return to the wild will depend on how comfortable he becomes with other elephants.

“Right now he is very friendly with the baby elephants,” said Dr. Sipangkui. “But he still does not get close to adults.”

Blood samples taken from the elephants found dead last year and evaluated by two international labs showed high levels of heavy metals, such as arsenic, cadmium, iron and chromium, Sabah’s minister of tourism, culture and environment, Masidi Manjun, told the state assembly last July.

Laurentius Ambu, the director of the Sabah Wildlife Department, said poison was most likely the culprit, though there has been no concrete diagnosis.

“All the lab results received last year could not trace what sort of poison killed the elephants,” said Mr. Ambu.

He said his department had handed the case over to the police but were unable to prosecute without knowing the exact type of poison that led to the deaths.

While that mystery remains, both Baby Joe and Bikang are giving hope to Jimbo and Tun Tan, the two newly abandoned elephants who wildlife officials say are adjusting well to their temporary shelter at Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Center in northern Sabah.

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Indonesia Real Time provides analysis and insight into the region, which includes Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Brunei. Contact the editors at SEAsia@wsj.com.

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